Across Indo-Pacific Countering Cybercrime Increasingly Seen As National Security Mission
July 31, 2026
Indo-Pacific Defense Forum
By Mandeep Singh
Key Takeaways:
Cybercrime has shifted from a pure law-enforcement issue to a national-security threat. Scam centers in Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, often linked to militias and Chinese networks, generate billions through forced labor and sophisticated online fraud.
Regional governments are adopting whole-of-government responses. India coordinates rescues and trafficking disruption, Australia funds cyber resilience and imposes sanctions, and the Philippines targets resale of text-blasting devices used for scams.
Multilateral action is expanding but still insufficient. Interpol’s Operation Secure dismantled over 20,000 malicious domains in early 2025; experts call for stronger ASEAN intelligence sharing and multistakeholder partnerships to curb victim trafficking and protect internet infrastructure.
Once viewed primarily as a law enforcement challenge, cybercrime is increasingly seen as a national security risk. Nations across the Indo-Pacific are responding with whole-of-government strategies encompassing intelligence operations, border security, financial sanctions, international partnerships and, in some cases, military engagement.
In Southeast Asia, crime syndicates, militia groups and other corrupt actors have joined to control areas where they can “openly engage in modern slavery, target a global population with sophisticated scams in impunity, and drain billions of dollars in resources from victims across the globe,” Jason G. Tower, an expert at the Switzerland-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, told FORUM.
The scale of the threat was underscored in Interpol’s 2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyberthreat Assessment Report, which found that cybercrime accounts for 30% of national crime in more than half of the 18 countries surveyed.
In areas such as Myawaddy and Payathonzu in Myanmar, Bokeo in Laos, and Poipet and Koh Kong in Cambodia, traditional economies have been supplanted by online scam-based ones, leaving residents with few options to make a living. Meanwhile, thousands of workers remain trapped in regional scam centers.
“The threats emanating from these scam states rival and, in many cases, surpass threats from terrorism,” Tower said, noting that criminal operations in Myanmar, for example, are supported by militia groups, including those aligned with the nation’s ruling military junta.
Investigators also have linked many scam center operators to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Although the scam groups are not necessarily directed by Beijing, they align with the CCP’s interests and are protected by political relationships.
India’s preventive approach includes strengthened coordination among the nation’s Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Central Bureau of Investigation and embassies across Southeast Asia to identify trafficking networks, warn potential victims, support rescue operations and disrupt recruitment pipelines feeding scam compounds.
Australia has positioned itself as a regional financial anchor for cyber resilience, committing about $60 million through 2028 under its Southeast Asia and Pacific Cyber Program and deploying cybersecurity experts to Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Canberra also imposes sanctions on cybercriminals.
In the Philippines, police are cracking down on the resale of text-blasting devices allegedly salvaged from shuttered offshore gaming operations. Officials say the devices serve as “portable cell sites, forcing nearby phones to receive unsolicited and often malicious messages,” the Philippine News Agency reported.
Multilateral law enforcement operations are producing results. Interpol’s Operation Secure, conducted from January to April 2025 across 26 countries, dismantled more than 20,000 malicious internet domains and addresses.
More regional cooperation is needed, including intelligence sharing among entities such as the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said Arindrajit Basu, a nonresident fellow at New America, a United States-based think tank.
“Cybercrime syndicates are not going away any time soon,” he told FORUM. “Building resilient multistakeholder partnerships that stops the trafficking of victims to the scam centers, raises awareness and protects the technical architecture of the internet will therefore prove crucial.”
About the author: Mandeep Singh is a FORUM contributor reporting from New Delhi, India.
Source: This article was published by Indo-Pacific Defense FORUM
About Indo-Pacific Defense Forum
Indo-Pacific Defense Forum is sponsored by the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and publishes daily online articles, daily social media updates and a quarterly magazine to provide timely updates on the Indo-Pacific security environment.
View all posts by Indo-Pacific Defense Forum →
July 31, 2026
Indo-Pacific Defense Forum
By Mandeep Singh
Key Takeaways:
Cybercrime has shifted from a pure law-enforcement issue to a national-security threat. Scam centers in Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, often linked to militias and Chinese networks, generate billions through forced labor and sophisticated online fraud.
Regional governments are adopting whole-of-government responses. India coordinates rescues and trafficking disruption, Australia funds cyber resilience and imposes sanctions, and the Philippines targets resale of text-blasting devices used for scams.
Multilateral action is expanding but still insufficient. Interpol’s Operation Secure dismantled over 20,000 malicious domains in early 2025; experts call for stronger ASEAN intelligence sharing and multistakeholder partnerships to curb victim trafficking and protect internet infrastructure.
Once viewed primarily as a law enforcement challenge, cybercrime is increasingly seen as a national security risk. Nations across the Indo-Pacific are responding with whole-of-government strategies encompassing intelligence operations, border security, financial sanctions, international partnerships and, in some cases, military engagement.
In Southeast Asia, crime syndicates, militia groups and other corrupt actors have joined to control areas where they can “openly engage in modern slavery, target a global population with sophisticated scams in impunity, and drain billions of dollars in resources from victims across the globe,” Jason G. Tower, an expert at the Switzerland-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, told FORUM.
The scale of the threat was underscored in Interpol’s 2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyberthreat Assessment Report, which found that cybercrime accounts for 30% of national crime in more than half of the 18 countries surveyed.
In areas such as Myawaddy and Payathonzu in Myanmar, Bokeo in Laos, and Poipet and Koh Kong in Cambodia, traditional economies have been supplanted by online scam-based ones, leaving residents with few options to make a living. Meanwhile, thousands of workers remain trapped in regional scam centers.
“The threats emanating from these scam states rival and, in many cases, surpass threats from terrorism,” Tower said, noting that criminal operations in Myanmar, for example, are supported by militia groups, including those aligned with the nation’s ruling military junta.
Investigators also have linked many scam center operators to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Although the scam groups are not necessarily directed by Beijing, they align with the CCP’s interests and are protected by political relationships.
India’s preventive approach includes strengthened coordination among the nation’s Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Central Bureau of Investigation and embassies across Southeast Asia to identify trafficking networks, warn potential victims, support rescue operations and disrupt recruitment pipelines feeding scam compounds.
Australia has positioned itself as a regional financial anchor for cyber resilience, committing about $60 million through 2028 under its Southeast Asia and Pacific Cyber Program and deploying cybersecurity experts to Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Canberra also imposes sanctions on cybercriminals.
In the Philippines, police are cracking down on the resale of text-blasting devices allegedly salvaged from shuttered offshore gaming operations. Officials say the devices serve as “portable cell sites, forcing nearby phones to receive unsolicited and often malicious messages,” the Philippine News Agency reported.
Multilateral law enforcement operations are producing results. Interpol’s Operation Secure, conducted from January to April 2025 across 26 countries, dismantled more than 20,000 malicious internet domains and addresses.
More regional cooperation is needed, including intelligence sharing among entities such as the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said Arindrajit Basu, a nonresident fellow at New America, a United States-based think tank.
“Cybercrime syndicates are not going away any time soon,” he told FORUM. “Building resilient multistakeholder partnerships that stops the trafficking of victims to the scam centers, raises awareness and protects the technical architecture of the internet will therefore prove crucial.”
About the author: Mandeep Singh is a FORUM contributor reporting from New Delhi, India.
Source: This article was published by Indo-Pacific Defense FORUM
About Indo-Pacific Defense Forum
Indo-Pacific Defense Forum is sponsored by the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and publishes daily online articles, daily social media updates and a quarterly magazine to provide timely updates on the Indo-Pacific security environment.
View all posts by Indo-Pacific Defense Forum →
About Indo-Pacific Defense Forum
Indo-Pacific Defense Forum is sponsored by the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and publishes daily online articles, daily social media updates and a quarterly magazine to provide timely updates on the Indo-Pacific security environment.
View all posts by Indo-Pacific Defense Forum →
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